From this day all generations will call me blessed: *
the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.
the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.
You’ve probably
not heard many sermons in the Lutheran Church on Mary, the mother of our Lord.
For many of us,
to be Lutheran is to reject much of what is distinctively Roman Catholic, and
with that, reject any notion of the blessedness of the virgin Mary.
In this we parted
ways, not only with Roman Catholicism, but with Luther himself.
Hear a few things
Luther said:
God did not
derive his divinity from Mary; but it does not follow that it is therefore
wrong to say that God was born of Mary, that God is Mary's Son, and that Mary
is God's mother...She is the true mother of God and bearer of God...Mary
suckled God, rocked God to sleep, prepared broth and soup for God, etc. For God
and man are one person, one Christ, one Son, one Jesus. not two Christs. .
.just as your son is not two sons...even though he has two natures, body and
soul, the body from you, the soul from God alone. (On the Councils and the
Church, 1539).
[She is the]
highest woman and the noblest gem in Christianity after Christ. ..She is
nobility, wisdom, and holiness personified. We can never honor her enough.
Still honor and praise must be given to her in such a way as to injure neither
Christ nor the Scriptures. (Sermon, Christmas, 1531).
No woman is
like you. You are more than Eve or Sarah, blessed above all nobility, wisdom,
and sanctity. (Sermon, Feast of the Visitation. 1537).
One should
honor Mary as she herself wished and as she expressed it in the Magnificat. She
praised God for his deeds. How then can we praise her? The true honor of Mary
is the honor of God, the praise of God's grace.. .Mary is nothing for the sake
of herself, but for the sake of Christ...Mary does not wish that we come to
her, but through her to God. (Explanation of the Magnificat, 1521).
It is the
consolation and the superabundant goodness of God, that man is able to exult in
such a treasure. Mary is his true Mother, Christ is his brother. God is his
father. (Sermon. Christmas, 1522)
Mary is the
Mother of Jesus and the Mother of all of us even though it was Christ alone who
reposed on her knees...If he is ours, we ought to be in his situation; there
where he is, we ought also to be and all that he has ought to be ours, and his
mother is also our mother. (Sermon, Christmas, 1529).
(The quotes are assembled from Luther’s
works by Dave Armstrong, and published by CatholicCulture.org)
Some might say that Luther’s devotion to the
Virgin Mary is one aspect of his faith that remained very Catholic, even
following the Reformation.
Perhaps even view this as a weakness in his
personal theology.
And yet, we should also beware that our
resistance to calling her blessed has more to do with our anti-Roman Catholic
tendencies, than it does with any scriptural or theological position.
Over and against any and all of our
objections to any veneration of Mary is one simple fact:
That through this young maiden, God became
human, entering into our world through her womb, and receiving from her his
earthly nature.
Theotokos is what she is referred to in
Eastern Orthodoxy, literally, “God bearer”.
Mary was a
young maiden, probably only 12 or 13 years old, old enough to be
betrothed according to Jewish custom, but not yet married in the full sense of
that term, which would normally happen after she matured, went through puberty,
and became a woman.
An angel visited her.
She heard the words that she would bear a
child who would be called “Son of God” that is, the Messiah.
And she wondered, how could this be.
In the end, in a perfectly faithful
response, she said: “let it be with me according to your word."
When she visited Elizabeth, her relative
that was expecting her child in her old age, Mary broke into song:
"My soul magnifies the Lord, and my
spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness
of his servant.”
Grace.
The favor of God shown to her, and to us, in
our lowliness.
Mary would cradle the Christ Child in her
arms, as shepherds and wise men visited.
She would hear of the angel’s song:
"Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace among those whom he
favors!"
And she would hear Simeon’s Song, when they
brought Jesus to be circumsized:
29
"Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace,
according to
your word;
30 for my eyes
have seen your salvation,
31 which you
have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
32 a light for
revelation to the Gentiles
and for glory
to your people Israel."
No sooner than all this had taken place,
Mary would grasp Jesus in her arms and flee with Joseph into Egypt, a refugee
seeking safety for the child in a foreign land, made necessary by Herod’s
desire to kill the babe.
As Jesus grew in years, they would visit
Jerusalem.
Horrified, they realized as they returned
home that Jesus was nowhere to be found.
Except in his
Father’s house, where he was found conversing with the teachers.
"Why were
you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's
house?"
It was Mary who
called on Jesus to perform his first miracle, at the wedding at Cana.
And it was Mary who
sought out Jesus during his ministry, concerned about his health and wellbeing.
And then it was
Mary who stood at the foot of the cross, filled with grief, as she watched her
son suffer and die.
Simeon had said:
"This child is destined for the falling
and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that
the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own
soul too."
Had those words
prepared her for the agony of watching Jesus suffer and die?
In all this, Mary
reflected the Father’s love, in that she too offered her Son up for the
salvation of the world.
And for this, all
generations will called her blessed.
Rather than
despising the Virgin Mary, we should rather seek to model our faith after hers.
"Here am I, the servant of the Lord;
let it be with me according to your word."
Let it be.
Let it be that
God might look upon us in our lowliness with his grace and favor.
Let it be that
through us the Christ might become flesh and dwell among us, full of grace and
truth.
Let it be that we
might cling tight to the Christ to protect him from the world,
And let it be
that we might let him go into the world.
Let it be that we
might take our stand at the foot of the cross.
And let it be
that we might bear his love to all the world.
I’ve often
thought that one of the reasons Roman Catholics are so devoted to Mary, is that
sometimes only a mother will do.
You see, there is
a part of us that longs to return to the bosom from which we were first
embraced, to feel again the love that gave us life, and to know that we are
not, nor ever shall be, orphaned.
If Christ is
truly our brother, then Mary is our Mother.
As Luther said:
Mary is the
Mother of Jesus and the Mother of all of us even though it was Christ alone who
reposed on her knees...If he is ours, we ought to be in his situation; there
where he is, we ought also to be and all that he has ought to be ours, and his
mother is also our mother. (Sermon, Christmas, 1529).
The love that
Mary had for Jesus, is also a love she has for us.
But Mary’s love
is always experienced as a reflection of the Father’s love and in the context
of her love for the Christ Child.
To come to Mary,
is to come to the one who kneels at the side of the manger.
To come to Mary,
is to come to the one who points us to the one who lies in the manger.
To come to Mary,
mother of God, is to come to Jesus, apart from which she is not.
Mary will not
save you.
She merely points
us to the one, who will.
She points us to
the one, whose will is that we might be saved.
Faith.
It is to stand
with Mary,
At the foot of the cross,
And simply say: “Let
it be with me according to your Word.”
Amen
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